The Checkered Coat
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Edward L. Cahn
Tom Conway
Noreen Nash
Hurd Hatfield
James Seay
Garry Owen
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In Los Angeles, psychiatrist Michael Madden is visited by patient Stephen Bolan, who walks into his office unannounced and says that Michael's brother Fred, an ex-convict, has sent him. Bolan, also known as "Creepy," tells Michael that once in a while he blanks out completely. Michael thinks Bolan is probably cataleptic and wants to hospitalize him for observation, but Bolan refuses to go. Michael tells him that one day he may have an attack which will make him appear to be dead and gives him a letter to carry with him at all times, which states that if he is found in a state resembling death, under no circumstances should an autopsy or embalming be performed before Michael is notified. When Creepy asks for some pills, Michael goes to prepare some and tries to phone a psychiatric hospital about admitting Creepy. Before Michael returns with the pills, Creepy leaves and goes across the hall to the office of a manufacturing jeweler, Marcus Anson, and "cases" it. Later, he tells Fred, who resents his brother's success, about the place and suggests they go back and rob it. After Michael's wife Betty, who is waiting at a restaurant for Michael, phones his office, Creepy phones to say that Betty has been in an accident in order to get Michael out of the building. Michael suspects that Creepy made the call, and as he leaves, sees Fred and Creepy heading toward the jeweler's door. While Michael tries to call the police, Anson and his brother Bill are shot by Creepy. Michael, gun drawn, enters the jeweler's premises and is slugged by Creepy. Creepy and Fred take him with them. Later, while police captain Dunhill is interrogating the building's caretaker, Betty phones again wondering where Michael is. Meanwhile, Creepy plants a jewel and an Anson envelope in Michael's car to incriminate him. Michael escapes from Fred and Creepy but, discovering he is under suspicion in the murders, phones Betty at the restaurant and arranges to meet her at a Mexican café. Although a police officer is following her, he does not realize that the cab she takes is being driven by Fred and that Creepy is in the back seat. At the café, Michael receives a note stating that if he wants to see his wife alive he should stay clear of the police for twenty-four hours. Michael phones Dunhill and tells him that Betty is being held prisoner by a "psycho." After Creepy takes the jewels to a fence named Skinner, he shoots Fred behind Skinner's store and takes off with Betty. Michael finds Fred but he dies before revealing where, on Main Street, Creepy may be hiding Betty. Creepy, who plans to disfigure Betty, leaves her gagged in a closet, then goes out to buy something and collapses in the street. An ambulance is summoned and an intern tells an officer that Creepy has died of a heart attack. A bum, Prince, then picks up Creepy's checkered coat with Michael's letter inside and makes off with it. At the morgue, two doctors prepare to perform an autopsy on Creepy to discover why the usual signs of a heart attack are not evident. At the same time, Michael spots Creepy's checkered coat in a bar and thinks he has found Creepy. However, he is recognized by some bar patrons after they see a television announcement about him and they chase after him. Michael then chases Prince, believing he is Creepy, and eventually catches him. After Michael finds the letter in the coat, Prince tells him that he took the coat from a dead man. As Creepy can still clear him of the Anson shootings, Michael rushes to the morgue in time to stop the autopsy. The doctors bring Creepy "back to life," and the crook tells Michael where he can find Betty. Michael and Betty reunite, and he is able to clear himself with the police.
Director
Edward L. Cahn
Cast
Tom Conway
Noreen Nash
Hurd Hatfield
James Seay
Garry Owen
Marten Lamont
Frank Cady
Leonard Mudie
Russell Arms
Lee Bonnell
Julian Rivero
Dorothy Porter
Sam Hayes
Dewey Robinson
Rory Mallinson
John R. Hamilton
Fred Browne
Eddie Dunn
Lee Tung Foo
Crew
Fay Babcock
Sam Baerwitz
Shirley Baron
Bill Crosby
Robert Erlik
Stephen C. Foster
Merwin Gerard
Jack Gertsman
Bert Glazer
Garry A. Harris
John C. Higgins
Edward J. Kay
Paul Landres
Ted Larson
Seeleg Lester
Stanley Levin
Marcia Masa
Bert Offord
Jackson Rose
Frank Sylos
George J. Teague
Carl Wester
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to documents in the Twentieth Century-Fox Produced Scripts Collection at the UCLA Arts-Special Collections Library, Seeleg Lester and Merwin Gerard's original story May have been based on their radio play Fall Guy, which was also a working title for the film.
